MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[AppletonRocks]

Halftime at the Ratner Center in Hyde Park,in an entertaining game:

Chicago 41
Carroll 37

For those who may have finished your wild-o-meter votes for coaches in the CCIW, we've got another contender who just joined the conference.

Even after the stress relief of lowering their academic standards by joining the CCIW?  Wow. 

[Titan Q]

Illinois Wesleyan 88
#8-Ohio Wesleyan 70

http://www.battlingbishops.com/boxscore.aspx?path=mbball&id=4723

* Andy Stempel: 21 points (5-7 3-point), 9 rebounds
* Brady Rose: 20 points (4-6 3-point)
* Trevor Seibring: 14 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists
* Alec Bausch: 12 points, 8 rebounds


The Titans jumped out to a 15-point lead after 10 minutes and were up 42-25 at the half.  The 2nd half was all IWU as well - the Titans led by 27 with 11:26 to go and by 33 points at the 4:13 mark.

IWU shot 33-57 (.579) from the field and 12-24 (.500) from 3.  The Titans out-rebounded the Bishops 36-29.

This was a really nice road win for the Titans.  IWU seems to be very deep, talented, and balanced.  It's an unselfish group that plays very hard.  The Titans (5-0) travel to North Central a week from today.

[ChicagoView]

Finally got out to a game (NV v. Aurora).  Really enjoyed the game and seeing a lot of familiar faces.  NC never pulled away but the game was never in doubt.  Loved the spunk of the Aurora guards, they were fearless.  Also loved how NC players held each other accountable.  After Aurora guards drove to the hoop unchecked a few times, one of the NC players yelled to the NC staff about his teammate, "get him outta here, he ain't guarding nobody".  I almost fell out of my seat laughing. 

[4samuy]

As we head into conference play, can the depth, talent and consistency of IWU make up for the All American  talent of North Central and North Park?  We'll see, but IMHO they have as good a shot as anyone. When the first regular season rankings come out on Monday IMO We could see 3 or four teams out of the CCIW in the top 25. I would enjoy hearing any thoughts.

[Gregory Sager]

Chicago 94
Carroll 83

Kyle Keranen's 30 points were in vain for the Pios, who dropped their first loss of the season after a 3-0 start against lesser teams. Tanner Zaeske had 14 and Joel Heesch contributed 10 for Carroll, which shot 57% from the field but lost the battleof the boards by six. Perez, Crawford, and Karas had 24, 23, and 22, respectively, for the Maroons.

[Gregory Sager]

Carthage 79
Northland 60

Big Brad Perry led the way with 20 and 10 for the Red Men, while Kienen Baltimore scored 12 for Carthage (3-1). Brad Kruse had an 11 and 9 afternoon, while Mike Stevenson (11) and Drew Joiner (10) also reached double figures for the hosts.

[iwumichigander]

As we head into conference play, can the depth, talent and consistency of IWU make up for the All American  talent of North Central and North Park?  We'll see, but IMHO they have as good a shot as anyone. When the first regular season rankings come out on Monday IMO We could see 3 or four teams out of the CCIW in the top 25. I would enjoy hearing any thoughts.

OK. Some thoughts - With 5-0 just off a win against pre-season #8 OWU (and I do not understand how they got ranked), just might be enough to get IWU in the rankings.  The BUT - it is not like the Titans defeated 5 undefeated teams. In prior years, IWU has certainly played a harder to date schedule.  Depth and talent are there and have been there prior seasons with disappointing end.  The key is the consistency and I'll add both chemistry and injury free.  I think 1-6 pretty much set at this point.  The real test will be which players step up to fill out 7-9.  Do I think that will be ironed out by next weekend against North Central - no.  We will need a little, or, maybe a lot of luck.

And yes, I could see as a stretch 3 or 4 CCIW teams ranked

[Gregory Sager]

North Park 92
Adrian 79

Jordan Robinson: 30 pts, 13 rebs
Juwan Henry: 27 pts, 7 rebs
Colin Lake: 10 pts
T.J. CobbS; 5 stls

[4samuy]

As we head into conference play, can the depth, talent and consistency of IWU make up for the All American  talent of North Central and North Park?  We'll see, but IMHO they have as good a shot as anyone. When the first regular season rankings come out on Monday IMO We could see 3 or four teams out of the CCIW in the top 25. I would enjoy hearing any thoughts.

OK. Some thoughts - With 5-0 just off a win against pre-season #8 OWU (and I do not understand how they got ranked), just might be enough to get IWU in the rankings.  The BUT - it is not like the Titans defeated 5 undefeated teams. In prior years, IWU has certainly played a harder to date schedule.  Depth and talent are there and have been there prior seasons with disappointing end.  The key is the consistency and I'll add both chemistry and injury free.  I think 1-6 pretty much set at this point.  The real test will be which players step up to fill out 7-9.  Do I think that will be ironed out by next weekend against North Central - no.  We will need a little, or, maybe a lot of luck.

And yes, I could see as a stretchable 3 or 4 CCIW teams ranked

s from

Good points.  IMO NC has the best starting five in the CCIW. Other than Jagger Anderson (27 mins/game), all other starters are playing over 30 minutes/game.  They are getting some quality minutes from from Sam Ferhle, who is going to be really good, but not so much elsewhere and that should be a concern. Yes it's early in the season and it looks as if they beat a pretty deep team in Benedictine, but in the CCIW quality depth Is critical and by looking at the box scores IWU has it.

[Titan Q]

I think 1-6 pretty much set at this point.  The real test will be which players step up to fill out 7-9.  Do I think that will be ironed out by next weekend against North Central - no. 

I'm not 100% sure what you mean, iwumich, but it seems to me IWU's 10-man rotation is pretty much locked in.

G - Rose (Coleman)
G - Bonnett (Amann)
G/F - Stempel (Curry)
F - Beasley (Bausch)
F/C - Seibring (Burdine)

[Titan Q]

OK. Some thoughts - With 5-0 just off a win against pre-season #8 OWU (and I do not understand how they got ranked),

Ohio Wesleyan got ranked because they went 25-5 last year, tied for the NCAC championship (15-3), went to the Sweet 16, and returned their top 3 scorers (Nate Axelrod, Seth Clark, Ben Simpson). 

Whether or not they finish the season as a Top 25 team, who knows.  But in terms of the preseason poll, I think they were a no-brainer to pencil in pretty high.

[iwumichigander]

I think 1-6 pretty much set at this point.  The real test will be which players step up to fill out 7-9.  Do I think that will be ironed out by next weekend against North Central - no. 

I'm not 100% sure what you mean, iwumich, but it seems to me IWU's 10-man rotation is pretty much locked in.

G - Rose (Coleman)
G - Bonnett (Amann)
G/F - Stempel (Curry)
F - Beasley (Bausch)
F/C - Seibring (Burdine)

Pretty much locked in-yes.  A tweak or maybe two - possible.  Am I tweaking the next 3-5 games - likely not - other than a favorable matchup based on scouting report.

[iwumichigander]

OK. Some thoughts - With 5-0 just off a win against pre-season #8 OWU (and I do not understand how they got ranked),

Ohio Wesleyan got ranked because they went 25-5 last year, tied for the NCAC championship (15-3), went to the Sweet 16, and returned their top 3 scorers (Nate Axelrod, Seth Clark, Ben Simpson). 

Whether or not they finish the season as a Top 25 team, who knows.  But in terms of the preseason poll, I think they were a no-brainer to pencil in pretty high.

Yeah, I understand just not sure I would have had them as a top ten.  The nice thing about penciling in - you get to use the eraser !

[Gregory Sager]

Tonight's game in the crackerbox wasn't nearly as close as the final score indicated. NPU was up by 20 with three and a half minutes left when Tom Slyder started taking out his regulars and putting in the end of his bench. Lo and behold, the Bulldogs hit three treys back-to-back-to-back, cutting the lead to 11 in the space of two minutes. Give the NPU coach credit for not panicking and for showing some faith in his deep reserves, who did manage to right the ship at that point and run out the clock.

Another magnificent game for NPU's pair of preseason All-Americans, who are putting up numbers early in the season that are just plain silly. Jordan Robinson is now averaging 25.3 ppg and 12.7 rpg after three games, while Juwan Henry is averaging 26.0 ppg and a surprising 6.3 rpg. What I really like about Juwan's game this year, aside from the unexpected rebounding, is the good start he's gotten from beyond the arc. Last season he started off 0-13 from downtown before he finally hit one late in the first half of the fourth game of the season. This year he's 7-11 (.636) thus far. In fact, his hot start from range is indicative of the team as a whole; North Park has hit treys at a 50% rate or better as a team in all three games.

Nevertheless, this game wasn't one to get too up about. Adrian is one of those teams that is definitely less than the sum of its parts, and I doubt that it's going to look like an impressive win by season's end. Bulldogs guard DaVonte Harris (29 pts) is the real deal, though. He'd be a star for any team at this level.

Not a perfect game by any stretch of the imagination, but it's important to keep piling up those wins, regardless. This is the first time in fourteen seasons that the Vikes have won their first thee games.

[Gregory Sager]

The CCIW is now 25-10 (.714) on the season.

Sunday's games
Washington MO (3-0) @ Augustana (4-0)
Carroll (3-1) vs. East-West (0-8) @ Chicago, IL   
Elmhurst (1-3) @ Alma (1-3)